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Alleged voyeur arrested

A Vermilion Township man was arrested Monday after he allegedly installed a webcam in a teen woman's room, aimed right at her dressing area.

James Marquis, 51, of the 200 block of Artillery Ave., was charged with voyeurism and possession of criminal tools, both first-degree misdemeanors.

The Artillery Avenue teen was changing clothes in her bedroom closet around 4 p.m. Sunday when she noticed a red light reflected in her mirror, according to an Erie County deputy's report.

Upon investigating, the woman noticed a webcam poorly hidden under her TV stand — a book had been removed from the hallway and placed in front of the device in an attempt to conceal it, Erie County Detective Dennis Papineau said.

The woman said no one had been in the house that day, but suspected the camera had been installed recently, as she would've noticed the light overnight, the report said.

“It is apparent whoever placed the camera was attempting to view (the teen) in a state of undress either in front of the camera or in the reflection in the mirror,” a deputy wrote in his report.

Deputies later interviewed Marquis, who totally denied involvement.

But when Papineau returned to investigate the matter Monday, Marquis offered a different story.

“He admitted installing the camera and setting it up,” Papineau said. “He said he did it basically to keep an eye on her comings and goings and that he was concerned for her and wanted to know what she was doing (while she was home alone).”

Marquis later told deputies he checked the camera, via wi-fi, multiple times — every 30 to 60 minutes, Papineau said.

Marquis maintained his intent was not sexual in nature and that he never spotted the teen on the camera.

Deputies arrested Marquis around 3 p.m. Monday and took him to the Erie County jail. He bonded out in short order, Papineau said, and is scheduled for a court appearance this morning.

Comments

IT'S ME

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 8:55am

So who is he? A neighbor, dad, step dad, moms bf??? Why was he in the house?

Factitious

Wed, 08/13/2014 - 1:34pm

This way this story is written is weirder that the story is creepy. His reported comments clearly imply some responsibility for her but none is reported either way. The only plausible explanation that immediately comes to mind is a bungled attempt to protect a minor's identity - that the SR couldn't resist publicly shaming the guy even if it meant outing the victim. Combine that with the apparent PC gone awry weirdness of insisting upon calling an apparently minor female a "woman," which of course is technically correct but not in keeping with the conventions here and certainly adding no clarity. Or is she of majority age, i.e., 18 or 19, in which case, the term "teen" would be only marginally relevant? Blur on blur.

How'd I do, SR? (Hope I'm all wet, but looking forward to clarification.)

SassieSuzieSez

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 9:12am

WOW!!!

lunchtime 175

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 9:25am

yes they never did say what connection he had to her and how he got in the house to begin with? Seems sort of strange that he would put a camera in her bedroom just to keep a eye on her?? I say lock him up and throw the key away and put a camera on him to keep a eye on him!!

Brick Hamland

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 9:38am

That might be to keep the identity of the teen unknown

Informed

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 11:36am

Why are they calling her a teen woman? Is she 18 or 19 or a minor?

Courtney Astolfi

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 12:24pm

The victim is not a minor. Criminal charges would be increased to felonies if she was under 18.

Factitious

Thu, 08/14/2014 - 12:26am

Oops! Sorry, missed this post until after my comment above. I surmise it is SR policy to not reveal the identity of sex crime victims. We now know she was 18 or 19. It might have been better to simply state her age, or perhaps better still, in support of identity protection by avoiding disclosing the age, to simply describe her as a young adult female. I do still have a hunch that withholding the alleged perpetrator's name might have afforded her better confidentiality.

obscenity

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 10:07pm

She seen the "red light". What a moron! Hasn't he ever heard of electrical tape?

WaterStreetCooncat

Wed, 08/13/2014 - 2:00am

If I were the girl I would have been more scared about how he got in the house to begin with since he may have made more frequent visits to her home than she knew about! Did she check for missing undergarments? How did they catch him? Hello!?!